Born on March 9
The Wealth of Nations Is Published
The book that started economics.
Next: March 9, 2027
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of 9 March 1776, when An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published in London in two volumes, printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell. Its author, the Scottish thinker Adam Smith, had been Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but economists, teachers and libraries remember the anniversary, and the full text can be read free online. It is a good day to read its famous first chapter, on how a team of workers makes pins, and to think about how many hands it took to make the things on your desk.
Did you know
Smith described a small workshop where ten men, each doing a few of about eighteen steps, could make upwards of 48,000 pins a day; working alone, each might not have made twenty.
Read the full story of The Wealth of Nations Is Published
Star sign
Pisces · February 19 – March 20 · Water sign
Dreamy and kind, with an artist's imagination.